Well, it's concert day for the outdoor show in Hanging Rock (a park about 60Km north of Melbourne).

Weather looks like it is going to be perfect ... about 27C and clear skies.

I'm just about to jump on a plane to head over ... looking forward to an incredible show with some great Aussie support bands!

Dean (from Adelaide)

(For most of November 2010, I followed Leonard and the band as they toured around Australia and New Zealand. You can read about my wanderings on the blog I created to collect them all in one place: http://lcdownunder2010.wordpress.com/)

The venue - Hanging Rock – is located near Woodend in the State of Victoria. I believe that the United Heart Touring Company are staying in Melbourne which is about 75 kilometers away - about an hour’s drive. This is the first two outdoor concerts on this part of the tour throughout Australia and New Zealand (Perth is also outdoors). I hope the weather is fine! The forecast is for sun and a temperature of about 70 F – but that’s during the day. Hanging Rock Reserve hosts many sporting events, particularly horse racing and it’s “picnic races” are a big attraction.

I believe that this is the first concert to be held at this locale. This is a statement from Fronteir Touring Company –

Frontier Touring Company boss Michael Gudinski said in a statement, "Hanging Rock and the Macedon Ranges have always been a very special place for me personally as I have a second home up there. Holding a concert at Hanging Rock has been something I've been working towards for years and I'm thrilled that we have secured approval for the series. It is fitting that the first concert we're holding there is with Leonard Cohen, an artist as iconic as the location itself."

For one night, Cohen will perform under the stars with special guests Paul Kelly, Clare Bowditch and Dan Sultan.

Hanging Rock was the locale of the well known novel by Joan Lindsay that was made into a film - “Picnic at Hanging Rock”– about the mysterious disappearance of a group of local school girls during a picnic excursion at the Rock in 1900.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073540/

HANGING Rock is to become the backdrop for a series of concerts, featuring international acts.

Music promoter Michael Gudinski, who owns a home at Mt Macedon and is the founder of Frontier Touring Company, said he was elated when his proposal for four concerts in the council-owned eastern paddock got planning approval.

A liquor licence was also approved last week, and four full-time staff started this week to get the site ready for up to 12,000 for a concert on November 20.

Mr Gudinski said the first of the concerts would be headed by a major international artist and that he hoped the timing would enable Canadian folk singer Leonard Cohen to perform.

“It has been a dream of mine to hold events at this very special place and the region is dear to me, and I believe it will attract a host of visitors from interstate and overseas who want to hear music here,” he said.

“I don’t want a rowdy concert,” he said. “These shows will showcase music that works in with this glorious location and will appeal to an older mature crowd.”

Improving road access for thousands of concertgoers would be a priority before November, Mr Gudinski said.

Under the agreement, four concerts will be held at Hanging Rock until April 2012.

Macedon Ranges Mayor Rob Guthrie said the agreement would provide a valuable boost to the regions food and wine producers as well as hotels and bed and breakfasts.

None of the concerts can be held in April or May due to the breeding season of a pair of powerful owls who live in the reserve.

Leonard Cohen web forums have been buzzing since the Leader first reported a potential special concert there.

The 75-year-old artist played a series of concerts in Australia last February including at a Yarra Valley winery. Cohen, Mr Gudinski and fellow artists involved in the tour donated $200,000 to the Black Saturday bushfire appeal.

Who would you like to see play at the rock? Leave a comment below.

Hopefully Joey might have some interesting pictures for us of the “venue.”

Last edited by sturgess66 on Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Best concert ever" was at LC at Laver 18 months ago. So took kids & all tonight- and left at intermission. Couldn't see the stage. Couldn't really hear the music- it was just background volume. The traffic was chaos.And it was so very very cold. Sadly disappointed, and will avoid hanging rock gigs in future!!

snowgums wrote:"Best concert ever" was at LC at Laver 18 months ago. So took kids & all tonight- and left at intermission. Couldn't see the stage. Couldn't really hear the music- it was just background volume. The traffic was chaos.And it was so very very cold. Sadly disappointed, and will avoid hanging rock gigs in future!!

Sorry to hear you were left disappointed ^^
I saw Leonard again last week at RL and I enjoyed the concert as much as I did the previous year at Rochford Wineries, which was an outdoor event and the temperature was around the same Melbourne low temp forecast as tonight -
5C|41F (I wore my down puffa coat)

blonde madonna wrote:Surprised by the acres of plastic chairs, what happened to relaxing on the grass at these venues?

Sailing unfortunately took precedence for me today but interested to hear how the day went for others. Perfect weather!

The seats shown in the photo are the Reserved Seating, General Admission folks were encouraged to "BYO deck/camping chair & rug", again the same as for the concert at Rochford Winery last year.

Ancient venue a fitting setting for a soulful voiceJohn Mangan
November 21, 2010

An evening descends on a perfect spring day with Hanging Rock as the backdrop, a crowd of 12, 000
awaits Canadian singer-poet Leonard Cohen. Photo: Ken Irwin

THE 6-million-year-old rock formation and natural amphitheatre has been a home to Wurundjeri initiation rites, horse races and a haunting film credited with launching Australian cinema.

It's even served as a lookout for notorious bushranger, Dan ''Mad Dog'' Morgan.

Last night, though, Hanging Rock was transformed into that most modern of facilities, an outdoor concert venue, as the surrounding hills echoed to the soulful bass voice of Leonard Cohen.

The sun set behind the rock and the moon rose behind the crowd, Cohen's inspiring brand of melancholy warming a crowd braced against a chill spring night.

''I was born with the gift of a golden voice,'' the 76-year-old Canadian sang in Tower of Song, to cheers of approval from the crowd.

Clare Bowditch, Dan Sultan and Paul Kelly primed the 12,000-strong soldout crowd that had descended on Woodend for its first big concert, fulfilling a long-time dream of Melbourne music promoter, Svengali and local resident, Michael Gudinski, to turn the bowl into a major venue, in the spirit of the famous Red Rocks in Colorado.

Gudinski has permission for a number of concerts, as long as they are wrapped up before the April nesting season of the powerful owl.

A ring road and fencing had been constructed around the rock, as well as mood lighting for when the sun went down.

A logjam of traffic was inching into the car park as Paul Kelly, who also supported Cohen last year, delighted the crowd with a string of favourites including Deeper Water, To Her Door and How to Make Gravy. Vika Bull helped out on Kelly's Sweet Guy.

Gudinski said Cohen jumped at the chance to play Hanging Rock, remembering the eerie atmosphere of Peter Weir's film, but as the crowd settled in for an evening of fine music, the prehistoric lava formation towering up behind the stage was a reassuring presence.

In contrast with the brightly regaled audience, the singer-poet cut a dapper figure in grey as he opened the set with Dance Me to the End of Love.

''Thanks so much friends,'' he greeted his fans. ''Thanks for inviting us to this sacred place. It's a great honour. I promise we'll give you everything we've got tonight.''

Cohen's concerts are usually described in reverential tones; for this one night the setting was almost as memorable as the performance.